Behind the Ice Castles at Mall of America

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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Minnesota in the winter is the last place you'd expect to find a beach bum. But when the temperatures drop there's no other place Brent Christensen would rather be.

For the last three years he's traveled the nation building castles with icicles harvested right on site. It all started in his own backyard in Utah with his kids.

"Trying to cure some boredom and something to do with the kids...making forts and ice forts," he said.

The hobby turned into a passion for the California native and now he's bringing it to the Mall of America. Those high towers in the north lot at the mall light up at night to become "Ice Castles."

"Ice itself is such a beautiful thing and there's so many amazing things on this planet and ice is one of them," Christensen said.

Each icicle is fragile. But Christensen is patient and precise. He carefully pieced icicles together using a snow and water mixture. Not all of them stick. But when they do they create a winter wonderland like no other and for an experience Christensen hopes is like no other.

"You don't see the buildings around you. You don't hear the freeways as much. It's kind of like going to a movie you know, you come out and it's like oh wow, I forgot where I was," he said.

The castles will be open until February 20th. For more ticket information you can visit their webpage: Ice Castles.

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